After being told "you don't belong in this country," American-born actor Kal Penn is turning a bigoted comment he received over social media into more than half a million dollars for refugees.

Penn, who was born to Indian parents in New Jersey before rising to fame starring in the "Harold and Kumar" comedy films, received a comment on his Instagram page saying "you don't belong in this country you (expletive) joke." On Saturday, the former White House staffer under President Obama tweeted a screenshot of the comment with a link to a crowdfunding page for Syrian refugees in the commenter's name.

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The campaign comes as Penn and others in the entertainment world criticize President Donald Trump over his controversial immigrant policies.

As of Monday morning, the fundraiser raised more than $500,000, close to its $550,000 goal. The page urges people to be "better than the hateful people who tell us we don't belong in our own country, that America can't be a beacon of freedom and hope for refugees from around the world. We will turn their bigotry, along with the President's, into love."

Penn was touched by the "beautiful people" who contributed to the cause.

"This is such a testament to how proud we are of our beautiful country and how fired up we are to resist out new president's dangerous policies," Penn wrote on the page Sunday, adding more way to stay involved.